Persona Blog for the week of 6/20-6/24

 During this week I researched more about propulsion systems and fail safe mechanisms. I began to brainstorm and sketch out a few ways to implement these systems or mechanisms. For the fail safe mechanism, I sketched how a mechanism that is used in roller coasters, the watchdog fail safe, could be implemented onto our track. This watchdog mechanism would involve a decent amount of electronics and programming. I sketched another fail safe mechanism that didn't use any electronics, which would build a protective frame around the track that would be connected to the bogie. I also helped work with Chon, the master student, on trouble shooting the circuitry and electrical components that are involved with the motor. For example a 12 bit DAC, a relay and the wiring configurations of the controller to the circuit boards and to the motor. After we were sure all wire connections were correct and all components were working, we began writing a program to test how the motor would respond to the Arduino. At first, we got the motor to constantly spin at a slow speed from the Arduino. Since we knew the Arduino was working properly and sending the correct signals to the motor, then we began to right a more detailed code that would change speeds and change directions.